Comfort Women Lose Lawsuit Against Japan Over Sexual Slavery During WWII
On 4/21/21 at 6:47 AM EDT
A South Korean court has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Japanese government by a group of South Korean comfort women who were forced to work in brothels serving Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Citing sovereign immunity, which allows a state to be immune from a civil suit in foreign courts, the Seoul Central District Court rejected the case brought forth by 20 people, including surviving victims of wartime sexual slavery and the families of some who have died.
Under the lawsuit, the group sought a total of 3 billion won (over $2.6 million) in reparations from the Japanese government.
Choe Sang-Hun, The New York Times
Published: 10 Jan 2021 03:29 PM BdST
Updated: 10 Jan 2021 03:29 PM BdST A police officer stands guard near Japan and South Korean national flags at a hotel. (Toru Hanai/Reuters)
A South Korean court Friday ordered the Japanese government to pay $91,800 each to 12 Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japan’s troops during World War II. The ruling, the first of its kind in South Korea, is likely to aggravate the already chilly relations between Washington’s two key allies in Asia. );
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“The court recognizes that the accused committed illegal acts and that the plaintiffs suffered extreme psychological and physical pain hard to imagine,” Judge Kim Jeong-gon said in his decision.
1:08 PM MYT
South Korean ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan-pyo speaking to the media after being summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on January 8, 2021, as Tokyo denounced a South Korean court ruling ordering the Japanese government to pay compensation to twelve World War II sex slaves. - AFP SEOUL, Jan 9 (Reuters): A South Korean court for the first time on Friday ordered Japan to compensate 12 women who were forced to work in its wartime brothels, a ruling that drew a rebuke from Tokyo and threatened to rekindle a diplomatic feud between the two countries.
Reminders of Japan s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula are contentious for both sides, with many surviving comfort women - a Japanese euphemism for the sex abuse victims - demanding Tokyo s formal apology and compensation.